Michael Gbinije is going to be taller than just about all opposing point guards this season, and that started with Lehigh’s 5-foot-11 Karon Ross on Friday night.

In Syracuse’s (1-0) 57-47 season-opening win, Gbinije tried to exploit his height advantage with varying success. But that had much more to do with the Orange’s floor spacing than Gbinije’s post-up abilities. Two telling plays — the first unsuccessful and the second leading to a layup — are explored below.

“In college basketball you can just sit in the paint on defense. We tried to lift our bigs up and a lot of times they came down and just were there waiting,” Gbinije said of not being able to score on Ross on every post-up play. “I’m used to it, it’s college basketball and people are going to pack the paint.”

Bad spacing leads to unsuccessful post-up and a pass away from the block

On the floor for Syracuse: Starting lineup of Gbinije (No. 0), Trevor Cooney (No. 10), Malachi Richardson (No. 23), Tyler Roberson (No. 21) and Dajuan Coleman (No. 32)

The first post-up of Gbinije’s season starts with a pass to Richardson (red oval) on the wing and a screen from Roberson at the right elbow (blue oval). This could lead to a quick layup if the defender is picked off by the screen, but Ross anticipates and gets through the screen so Gbinije starts posting him up on the left block.

Roberson is being guarded by Lehigh forward Jesse Chuku (No. 31), who helps on the screen and takes the passing lane away from Richardson.

After Gbnije goes to the block and starts posting up Ross, Roberson (red oval) has pops to the perimeter and gets the pass from the wing. Gbinije is trying to seal Ross and catch a pass going toward the rim (in the space where the white rectangle is), but Coleman (green oval) is slow to cut to the wing which allows his defender, 6-foot-10 forward Tim Kempton, to hang around the paint.

When Coleman does move toward the right elbow, Kempton doesn’t chase him but does take a few steps away from the rim.

Roberson swings the ball to Coleman (red oval) and Syracuse is set up in an ideal four-around-one. Gbinije (white oval) moves to the right block to give Coleman an easier passing lane, Roberson (blue oval) has Chuku drawn to the top of the key and Richardson and Cooney are demanding attention on the perimeter.

But the first spacing problem arises when Kempton doesn’t press out on Coleman, who isn’t a proven mid- or long-range jump shooter. The second is when Roberson starts cutting toward the paint (blue arrow) which leads Chuku to collapse down and Coleman lofts a pass into Gbinije.

When Gbinije catches pass from Coleman (red oval), he has inside position on Ross but Lehigh quickly obstructs his path to the rim. Kempton (green oval) had to take two quick steps to the right block, Roberson (blue oval) is moving toward the rim which gives Chuku the easy decision to slide into the paint. Even Austin Price, to the right of Kempton, leaves Richardson at the top of the key.

Coleman and Roberson, aside from not drawing too much attention away from the paint, only hurt Gbinije’s scoring opportunity the closer they get to the rim. Their defenders may not stay glued to them around the elbow or 3-point line, but there’s a better chance that the paint opens up if they don’t cut toward the paint. By the time Gbinije catches the ball, both of them are moving in that direction.

Gbinije takes one dribble toward the rim (red oval) and four Lehigh players collapse around him. Coleman (green oval) and Roberson (blue oval) are hanging around the paint and their defenders, the two biggest Mountain Hawks on the floor, are clogging it. Gbinije throws an acrobatic pass to Richardson (yellow oval) up top but he misses the 3, a much lower percentage shot than the layup Gbinije could have had.

Good spacing leads to late collapse and contested made layup

On the floor for Syracuse: Same lineup

Like in the first play, the play starts with Gbinije passing the ball to Richardson on the wing (red oval) and getting a screen from Roberson (blue oval) to isolate him with Ross on the block.

Richardson bounces a pass to Roberson (red oval) and Gbinije gets good inside position (white oval) on Ross. Coleman (green oval) is at the opposite elbow and spacing the floor well, and Kempton plays just up enough to open up a passing lane to the middle of the paint.

When Roberson catches the pass from Richardson (red oval), Syracuse again has ideal four-around-one spacing. Chuku jumps out to meet Roberson at the perimeter, Kempton is playing Coleman from the elbow left elbow (green oval) and the Richardson and Cooney are being tightly guarded on the wings.

That leaves Gbinije alone in the middle of the paint (white oval) without every Lehigh defender leaning away from the rim. This time, neither Coleman or Roberson are making any moves toward the paint.

Roberson lobs the entry pass into Gbinije, but no Mountain Hawk defender is cheating enough to recover in time. By the time he rises up for the layup (red oval), the Lehigh defense collapses into the paint but no one is in position to fully obstruct his shot. Kempton, to his right, is the only player to put his hands up but he’s on the other side of the rim. Chuku (blue oval), the next best rim protector on the court, never gets close to contesting the layup.

Conclusion

As I said earlier, Coleman and Roberson aren’t going to draw a lot of attention away from the paint. But if they even make their defenders think about defending the perimeter — which is accomplished by staying put on the outside — then Gbinije will have room to operate against smaller guards.

Syracuse doesn’t seem to have many ways to score aside from shooting 3s, and the proper spacing could Gbinije post-ups an occasional option when the game slows down in the half court. The Orange’s next game is against St. Bonaventure (1-0) at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday, and more small guards await.

Published on November 16, 2015 at 10:53 am